Yet it would take Antonia (Toni) Carey and Nick Palazzo almost three years to finally meet and eventually form their film production company, TONICK Productions. (The company name – pronounced “Toe-Nick”—is an acronym derived from their first names.)

Although they have since collaborated on award-winning scripts and short films, it was their personal experiences in film collecting (which they jokingly refer to as “the sickness”) that inspired them to document and pay tribute to the unsung heroes of film collecting and preservation.

“Collecting has afforded us the privilege of meeting some amazing people. If it weren’t for them, our lives would be diminished immeasurably”, says Nick.

An assistant film editor who has worked on features for Universal and Warner Brothers, Toni observed, “We were able to see past stereotypical labels often put on collectors and shine the light on a group of brilliant souls dedicated to sharing an art form that is slowly disappearing.”

These folks aren’t doing it for the money. The couple maintain that in many instances, the collectors are pitted against the combined Goliath of archaic copyright laws, corporate interests and the sort of surreal logic found in a Joseph Heller novel.

They do it for love.

And in the end, isn’t it what you devote your life to that defines who you really are?